Are you ready to make that internal move? Retail provides many opportunities to move up, move quickly and move often. You may be interviewing for positions such as Key Holder, Assistant Manager and Store Manager or even as a Regional Manager. The concept is the same. How are you and your experiences able to provide the numbers, able to keep operations in line and all while keeping client experience high? You have one shot to prove it and that is in the interview.

PREPARATION

The single most important part of being ready for an interview is preparation. Like anything else in life, the more prepared you are, the easier and more successful you will be at the task at hand. You owe it to yourself, putting your career on the line, to take as much time as possible to prepare for any interview.

Anticipate the Questions

Advantage is in knowing what is going to be asked.

First, look for internal sources. Discuss your intentions with your supporting manager and ask them what questions they were asked in their interview. If you have a proper relationship with your supporting manager, they would have been developing you towards the next opportunity and should be happy to help you out. Also, you should leverage relationships with peers, acquaintances in similar positions you're applying for and members at head office that could help you out. Ask them for feedback on your strengths, examples of positive performance they have seen in you and what questions they were asked in their interview. (This also gets it out there that you're looking to move and gets people talking about you. Who knows who may be listening?)

Second, do your own research. If your company has an intranet site you may be able to find sample questions for similar interviews. Most retail interviews are behavioral based, which you can find many examples of online. There is tons of useful interview information on retail resource and career oriented websites relating to behavior based interviews. Below is an example of the type of question asked in a typical behavioral based interview:

Example: Tell me about a time you set a performance goal and achieved it.What methods did you use to achieve this goal?

Prepare Your Answers

Your strengths are displayed in your answers.

After accumulating what you see as the possible questions being asked, you must prepare your answers. I recommend you first list as many accomplishments as you can, then think of how they may relate to any of the questions that may be posed. Second, match them to the most relevant question and lastly, ensure you script a complete answer. Those interviewing you are looking for specific measurable experiences, evidence of desired competencies and positive outcomes. They may probe further for contradictory evidence.

Components of Complete Answers

• Situation - Description of your example
• Actions - What specific steps or actions you took
• Result - The POSITIVE result or learning of the situation

• Answers with measurable proof impress more then those without
• Especially important if competing for a promotion with your current employer

• Find and read a profile or job description for the position you're applying
• Ensure to use answers that display experiences in desired qualifications

• Be ready to tell the truth, not stories
• Don't forget important details
• What you say will be investigated

• Bring relevant documentation (store's performance reporting etc...)
• Consider bringing short presentations for key projects / performance measurement
• Use projects/experiences that highlight job specific requirements